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Denver apartment rent hits $1,371 a month

Metro Denver apartment rents looked like they had peaked in August, but they broke through their old highs in April, according to a rent survey released this week by Axiometrics.

The average apartment rent in Denver was $1,371 last month, up $23 from March and $58 more than the $1,313 in April 2015. It surpassed the high of $1,363 hit in August.

Apartment rents are increasing at a 4.4 percent annual pace, down from the 11.6 percent pace seen a year ago. Metro Denver apartments were 94.9 percent occupied in April, up from 94.8 percent in March but below the 96.1 percent rate in April 2015.

Axiometrics vice president of research Stephanie McCleskey said in a statement that the creation of 43,000 jobs the past 12 months will help absorb the 9,007 new apartments expected to hit the market this year.

"If job growth keeps improving, the apartment market will regain some of the strength it has lost in the past eight months," she said.